Gloucester telco to sue YouView

Gloucester based telco, Total-Ltd, is suing troubled digital TV service YouView, chaired by Alan ‘Sirallan’ Sugar, over a trademark dispute.

Total insists that YouView is infringing on one of its trademarks, YourView, and considers the claim necessary to protect its brand. Total previously won a decision with the Trade Marks Registry which opposed YouView’s trademark, which an official said was “confusingly similar”. YouView since lost its appeal in the High Court.

According to Total’s legal representation, Willians LLP Solicitors, the big guns behind YouView TV – the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk, and Arqiva – must have been fully aware that the Your View trademark had been registered since late 2009, but proceeded regardless.

Paul Gordon, partner at Willians LLP, said: “Mr Justice Floyd dismissed YouView’s appeal and took time to point out that not only was the hearing officer in the Trade Marks Registry right in her initial findings when she decided against registration of the ‘youview’ mark with certain goods and services, but that he agreed that there was similarity of the marks and similarity of the goods and services.”

Total is hoping for cash from YouView, as well as an injunction that will scrub the youview mark in a way Total believes infringes on its own trademark.

YouView itself, starting its life as Project Kangaroo, then Project Canvas, has experienced delays since it was first proposed. The project finally went live as a set top box that aimed to combine Freeview, the free digital TV service, and on-demand video services.

A spokesperson for YouView said earlier this month that it has “no intention of changing its name” and that the case was “complex”.